Two anti-Olympics critics want to take Vancouver to court over a contentious bylaw package approved last July.

The temporary Games-time measures passed by city council violate Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Five Ring Circus author Chris Shaw and Olympics Resistance Network member Alissa Westergard-Thorpe will argue.

“The Restrictive Provisions deny and are an infringement and an anticipatory infringement of the right to free expression,” reads a statement of claim filed today in B.C. Supreme Court. “[They] cannot be justified in a free and democratic society.”

The lawsuit is being lauded by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which has long argued the bylaws amount to a civil rights clampdown.

Last July, council passed a series of restrictions that will limit unauthorized commercial activity around venues, pedestrian corridors and other Olympics-related areas.

Sponsors pay a lot of money to promote their companies through the Games, and their rights need to protected, VANOC has argued.